How do you finish off a roll of film?

chut

chut

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Sometimes I'll go out and shoot and at the end of the day, I'll have a roll of film that doesn't quite get to 36 exposures. If I've only shot, let's say 24 exposures on a roll, I'll hold off on processing that roll.

Of course, the whole time I'm itching to get it processed already, but it seems like such a waste to throw away 12 shots of good film. And the lab will charge the same for 24 or 36 shots.

Do you folks have a ritual for finishing off a roll? I can imagine that it could become an ongoing project in itself - self portraits, shots of your partner/pet/favorite spot at home, etc.
 
I have tried to analyze the best way to shoot. I have settled on 24 exposures because it will get hung up the less than 36. As I have more than one camera I could have as many 3 cameras laying about with fill. I do not let it worry me. The only time I might shoot 36 exposures it when I am using a Nikonos & I can not change film.
 
chut said:
Do you folks have a ritual for finishing off a roll?
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If I'm at home, I'll shoot a few of my cat.

Elsewhere, I'll take a few shots of something, anything.

No, not many of these are keepers.
 
If I have at least 12 frames left in the camera, I'll just take out the exposed film in the darkroom and process that. The unexposed film stays in the camera. I try to cut a new leader in the dark and wind it onto the camera take up-spool in the dark, that way I don't loose too many frames.
 
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I just leave the roll in the camera, making sure to take a fresh roll along on outings. No special effort to finish a roll...
 
Depends on the roll, if I'm shooting a specific thing then I will develop the roll when It's done. I would prefer my contact sheets to be clean without distractions when I go through em.
If I'm just mucking around well, I'l keep shooting.
I also started shooting 24 exposure film because I like that number.
 
Most labs will indeed charge the same for the development. But that isn't the real expense. That comes from the photos. You have 12 less photos, you pay for 12 less photos. They only charge for what they print, with a standard development fee.

But like most, if I had 12 photos left, I would probably try to find something workwhile to photograph, and maybe wait a long time before finishing the roll. Sometimes, especially if I only have two or three left on the roll, I will just get it processed, knowing I am not really losing anything in the long run.
 
Steve Bellayr said:
I As I have more than one camera I could have as many 3 cameras laying about with fill. I do not let it worry me.
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Me neither, had to check my number, it´s 14:D If there´s only couple of frames left, I shoot family pictures, but I really dont´t worry about it.
 
I typically don't rush any film unless I think I've got something really good already and can't wait to develop it, and even then it's gotta be really good.

Now that I do my own C41, I won't be doing any developing unless I have a decent back log anyways so there's even less urgency to finish up a roll unless it's like the last few shots of the 6th roll.
 
I wait and finish it on the next outing, unless it's just a couple of frames, in which case I'll shoot anything I can find, often the cat. For color, I just get negs and scan them myself, so the cost of 24 and 36 is the same. I develop my own B&W and the same amount of chemicals is necessary with 24 and 36. So, I'm just patient and it ends up costing me less.

If I'm really itching to change to a different film, I'll make note of what frame I'm on, then carefully rewind so the leader is still hanging out. Then I'll save the roll and finish it later.

Paul
 
Its now almost 20 years since I developed a routine around this dilemma...

If I really have to change film mid-roll, I do that, and then change back to the one I started again afterwards...

It is really dead easy. If you rewind with attention, you´ll feel when the take-up spool gives. Then roll in 4-5-6 centimeters more, with practice I was soon able to roll it up exactly the way it comes originally.

I then cut off the take-up lead to make very sure that I will not double-expose it later on, and mark the number taken on the rest of the film sticking out with a pen.

When it has to go back again, I cut a new take-up lead (sometimes even biting it to get a breach and then tearing it into shape) and load it.

Now comes the important part. The camera should be on the fastest shutter-speed, and the aperture stepped down as fas as possible. It is best to cover the lens with a cap of course, but some dark cloth also makes the trick.

I then run trough until the film counter has the same number as written on the film + 2. This leaves a nice gap of 1.5-2 unexposed frames inbetween.

This procedure has never failed me once. The only thing that might be a problem is if the lab has an obsolete, automatic film-cutter. Should guess that this is not the case any longer, but if you are nervous about having an uneven gap in the middle of the roll you just tell them NOT to cut it.

This really comes in handy when using special types of film for special occasions, and then often expensive film as well.
 
I rewind and develop at the end of the day without worrying about how many exposures are left on the roll. Film and home processing are cheap so there are no exceptions.
 
Depends on the film. If it's E6, then I leave the camera around until I find a "worthy" subject. Main reason is E6 processing is much more expensive and a pain to get to the lab.

B&W, easy no big deal. I roll my own and I can usually find something to shoot. That said, I probably have 5 or 6 rolls of B&W in various cameras waiting to be finished.

I've only shot 1 C-41 roll in the last year, and it was 120, only 12 frames.
 
Um... sometimes by overcranking the wind lever and ripping the film off the supply spool. Not so much of an issue with auto-rewind.

Seriously, though, I usually do a manual rewind at 36 because there is not really any negative page that can handle more than 9 strips of 4. The problem with 37 frames is that most labs will put frame 1 on its own strip, and it's really hard to deal with - forcing you to use an extra page or to overlap two rolls on the same page. This is not a problem with b/w developed at home - since there are pages with 7x6 strips.

Dante
 
This is exactly why I prefer to shoot 24 exposure rolls. Inspiration always becomes limited for me towards the end of the roll and the impatience to get the film out of the camera and into my darkroom often causes me to use the last frames somewhat pointlessly.

I bulk load and I only load 24 exposures so I'm tending to restrict my shooting to the films that I can get in 100ft rolls.
 
sometimes I'll just photography my girlfriend doing stuff or my dog. Other times I'll try to to mirrors, like convex street mirrors or just the bathroom mirror.
 
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